Rust Stands in the Defendant's Seat #3
Coramdeo's crimes were real.
How did I know?
It wasn't because I was omniscient or anything. Back in the Blood Crusade, we had captured every archbishop except Archibold, strung them up in public, and purged them. That had happened right before the royal capital fell.
When Las snapped Coramdeo's fingers, he spilled every last sin, and after that the enraged mob tore his body to shreds.
Could a truly devout priest even exist in this world?
I dared to declare that none existed except me, Hyde.
The more solemn and upright a man pretended to be, the filthier the secrets he was hiding. Coramdeo was no different.
"Aaah, u-uh, aaah, th-this is a frame-up, a frame-up—! I have never committed such sins! My little sister was taken by heretics—I—!"
Idiot.
A sinner himself, yet he still tried to sit in judgment over others with that smug face. That was why he had ended up like this. Did fellow sinners have any right to condemn and judge one another?
I spoke to the wretch.
"That's right, Coramdeo. You are without sin. The one who raped your little sister back then wasn't you—it was me, Rust! I hypnotized you and stole your body!"
"It was… you?"
"Yes! You thought the crimes were yours, but it was me all along!"
"So you're saying it was you who lifted her skirt, who pulled down her underclothes and spanked her ass with your hand, who spread her cunt and shoved your hard cock inside her?!"
This lunatic.
Why the hell would that have been me?
But Coramdeo only scratched his head in agitation and stammered on.
"I-I knew it! Me, the most faithful of all, raping and murdering my own sister? Th-there was no way I could have done such a thing! It all felt like a dream back then. Yes, it was all a dream! I am innocent! I am innocent! Yes! I am innocent! Rust, you were the villain all along! You bastard!"
Coramdeo shouted as if he had been reborn.
And he believed without a shred of doubt that I was the real Rust.
In that instant, before every single person present, the masked Hyde ceased to exist. I became the genuine Rust.
Hearing Coramdeo rave like that only got me more fired up. His reaction hadn't strayed a single inch from my expectations!
"The reason all of you commit sins is, in truth, entirely me! Coramdeo, you think you were the one who raped your sister? Hell no! Was it Michelangelo who set fire to the Grand Cathedral? Hell no! Did Milione beat those soldiers? Hell no! It was all me!!!! But you are still guilty."
Sssk—.
I pointed a finger straight at Coramdeo.
"Whoever succeeds in cutting off that man's manhood, I shall personally baptize the top of his head with my curse! Who will drag that vile incestuous rapist out of here?!"
Justice.
Sometimes it became more terrifying than evil itself. Condemnation of the wicked always felt righteous, no matter how cruel or merciless the violence.
The death sentence against Milione had been like that. The fury aimed at Coramdeo was the same.
"Lord Rust's baptism is mine!"
"Th-that's Hans! Wasn't he the one who vanished from the Voltaire mansion?!"
"He raped his own sister! String this cock-sucking bastard up on a pole!"
"That son of a bitch Coramdeo sentenced my brother to the rack! He was a worse monster himself and still strutted around like he was better than everyone!"
The crowd began to boil with rage.
Three thousand people.
That vast throng surged like a wave, and at last the furious mob poured forward like a flood, charging toward the tribunal.
At the sight, Parmas cried out in shock.
"A r-riot! Protect Archbishop Coramdeo! Soldiers and knights, stop the crowd! It's a riot! Protect Archbishop Coramdeo!"
Coramdeo's illegal acts numbered more than ten. I had mentioned only one of them, and still the people were this enraged.
No—truthfully, the people weren't angry about Coramdeo's injustice at all.
Coramdeo was already guilty.
Guilty for wearing fine clothes.
Guilty for earning more money than others.
Guilty for eating expensive meat three times a day.
Humans were always itching to drag down anyone better off than themselves. Just as I was thinking the whole thing would end in pure chaos—
Paaaaaaang—!
A blinding light erupted from the middle of the crowd.
When I came to my senses, a knight in silver armor stood among them, radiating light.
"Everyone, halt! I have brought a papal decree from His Holiness the Pope in the Holy City of Barakan! Everyone, halt!"
His voice was clear and pure.
As the light gradually faded, we could finally make out his face.
He was a tall, striking man with short-cropped platinum-blond hair.
Not a single blemish marred his skin, and the lines of his face were as refined as a woman's.
The moment Parmas saw those red eyes, the wrinkles on his face smoothed out and he shouted,
"Sir Alter! Restore order at once! We must protect Archbishop Coramdeo!"
"Sir Parmas, from this moment forward, by the decree of His Holiness the Pope, I, Alter Archibold, shall take charge of this place. Soldiers, suppress the frenzy at once—!"
Even his voice was handsome.
His name was Alter Archibold.
Eldest son of Archbishop Archibold, and among the six Gold Badge Knights of the Order he was one of the younger, more vigorous ones.
The rising star of the kingdom.
The Lord's chosen son.
Well—if I had to put it in my own words, he was the classic church-boy type. You know the ones who stand up front playing guitar and leading the praise songs.
Popular, good-natured, the perfect man that every girl in the church youth group squealed over.
"Suppress them!"
Rumble-rumble-rumble—.
About thirty elite Bronze Badge knights under Alter's command poured in. Thirty knights clad in chain mail and plate.
They were a force that could reduce any ordinary small city to rubble, so the riot I had stirred up lost its fire almost at once.
Pat—.
In that moment Alter leapt into the air. He ran at a speed no human should be capable of, and before I could even gasp he was standing right in front of my nose.
Srrrng—.
His blade came to rest against my throat.
The cold that steals a man's life.
"Who are you?"
Alter asked me.
"Holy Knight Alter Archibold. You tell me. Who do you think I am?"
"……."
Alter did not answer.
Kuuuk—.
I felt the sword in his hand tremble ever so slightly. Realizing that if this continued my neck would be severed, I sensed the end of this little play approaching.
I had already said everything I wanted to say and done everything I needed to do.
"Guh, st-stop it, Hyde…! You stupid bastard…! What the hell are you doing…! Graaaaaaaaaah!"
I clung to the mask with all my strength.
Then I tore it off and hurled it hard onto the ground.
"…My body is my own! Hah, at last I have broken free of the wicked demon Rust's sorcery. Sir Alter, it is all thanks to the brief opening you created. Of course, even if you made an opening, no one but me could have escaped Rust's binding, but still."
"……."
Watching me pant roughly, Alter Archibold narrowed his eyes. About three seconds of silence passed.
Then, as if he had reached some decision, he withdrew his sword.
Srrrng—.
Before I knew it, everything had been settled.
Alter unfurled the purple scroll at his waist and raised his voice.
"I, Alter Archibold, shall now read and proclaim the decree of His Holiness the Pope! His Holiness Pope Gregory II declares that the defendants of this trial are to be acquitted and released!"
Acquitted and released.
The people were greatly shocked by those words.
But the scroll was long, and Alter's speech was not finished.
"Yet there must still be those who bear responsibility! His Holiness Pope Gregory II has demoted Medici Archibold—who, as administrator of the Grand Cathedral, failed in the duties of his office—to the rank of Bronze Badge priest, and has appointed him abbot of the newly constructed Emeris Monastery!"
Half a day.
Because there were so many troops, the chaos and uproar were suppressed within half a day.
"Coramdeo, a corpse was discovered in the garden of your family's villa. Along with the bronze rosary you claimed to have lost."
"Listen to me, Medici! I am innocent! You of all people know my innocence better than anyone! Raping and killing my sister was never my will! Rust! That demon controlled me!"
"Telling me will do you no good. You would do better to explain the details to the inquisitors. Still, just as my daughter Milione was declared innocent, I believe your grievances will also be resolved."
Coramdeo.
In the space of that single half-day he had aged another twenty years, and he was dragged away with both arms seized by the knights. In my opinion, we would never see him again.
Only the knights and the principal figures remained in the square where the trial had been held.
Sssk—.
The handsome man Alter unlocked the heavy manacles that had been fastened tightly around Milione's body.
"Milli, have you been well?"
He asked his younger sister.
His smile was bright and refreshing.
"Sir Alter, it is an honor to meet you. I am Bronze Badge Knight Romaria. You once picked up my handkerchief for me—I wonder if you remember—."
"Sir Alter! Do you remember me, Ailena? You gave me swordsmanship lessons back then!"
Alter was extremely popular among the female knights.
He was a holy knight renowned for being diligent and pious.
In other words, he was a lot like me.
Our human attributes overlapped in quite a few ways.
Anyway.
The suddenly appearing Alter had read the papal decree and cleaned up the situation. In my view, during the four days the trial had been postponed, Archbishop Archibold had pulled some strings.
He must have sent a letter to the Pope through his son, who was active as a "Holy Knight" in the Holy City of Barakan.
"Father, I will petition His Holiness the Pope for your reinstatement. The demoted priestly rank will be restored soon enough."
Alter spoke to his father, Medici Archibold.
Medici had been demoted from Gold Badge priest to Bronze Badge priest.
And he had been exiled from Fierenzo to serve as abbot of Emeris Monastery.
"Enough. It is fortunate that it ended like this. I had been wanting to read the scriptures and study in some quiet place anyway."
"But—, if you are not here, what is the Archibold family supposed to do? Oscar is gone as well, is he not?"
At Alter's question, Medici looked at him.
Then he lightly placed a hand on his son's shoulder and asked,
"Alter, what do you say to returning to the family?"
"I rose to the rank of one of the Six Knights and pledged my loyalty to the Heavenly Father and His Holiness the Pope. You know full well that I am no longer a man of the Archibold house."
"That is true. Johanna and I had decided to offer our firstborn to the Lord."
The six Gold Badge Knights.
They were the Pope's direct knights, destined to leave family and homeland behind. I had heard they even had to take a vow of chastity and live their entire lives as celibates.
In other words, Alter Archibold was Medici's son, yet in a certain sense he was not his son at all.
That was why the death of the second son, Oscar Archibold, had been such a heavy blow to the Archibold family.
He had been, for all practical purposes, the sole legitimate heir.
Well, they still had a daughter, so they could always bring in a son-in-law—.
But honestly, the daughter's condition wasn't exactly ideal.
"Then, escort Bronze Badge Priest Medici Archibold away! He too is a man who must answer for his responsibility in this incident."
At Alter's words the knights dragged Medici off.
Even though it was his own father, the man was colder than I had expected.
"Are you the monk Hyde?"
"I am. Sir Alter Archibold. It is an honor to meet in person a celebrity known as the 'Holy Knight.'"
"Don't be so stiff. We're the same age, you know. How about we just treat each other comfortably? I can't very well be rude to the benefactor who saved my little sister."
"Then shall we? Alter, good to meet you."
Sssk—.
When I held out my hand, Alter clasped it.
"Hyde, you're a more open-hearted fellow than I expected. I'd like to take you home right now, but procedures being what they are, I can't. Hyde, you'll need to speak with the inquisitors for a short while as well."
Speak with the inquisitors.
At that fact a faint chill ran down my spine.
"Even if only briefly, this is the body that Rust possessed. We have to check whether there are any health problems, and whether that demonic spirit was properly driven out."